Thursday, February 27, 2014

Red Letter Words

GO RED TO END IT!
"Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and need." ~ Proverbs 31:8-9

I always have grand intentions of getting things blogged.  I have a little notebook that I am constantly scratching down random thoughts, sometimes just little things I want to remember, other times blog post ideas, and then those things that I need to be reminded of so often.  With that said, I had an entire other idea that I was mulling over this morning while I was running...but then I saw all the END IT pictures.

While we feel as if we are so small and that we can't possibly do anything to help and there is nothing we can do - WE ARE SO WRONG!  To end Human Trafficking, you are right, I can't stop it, you can't stop it, or your church, but together with CHRIST we can END IT.  Anything is possible with Christ, Phil 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  It does not say some things, but ALL things.  

This was a great educating experience for my children this morning.  They needed to know this.  I got the red pen out and started marking, and we started talking.  Talk about some questions, and funny understandings from a four year old.  After I marked and we talked, Leia went running to find Daddy and her words, "Daddy, Daddy, I have a red mark so no one can sell me."  Okay, so she didn't get the whole picture, but we gotta start small here.  The other kids have been learning some about slaves, since they have been studying about the wars in England, France, and the War of 1812, so slavery has been mentioned.  They thought that since all these wars were fought that no one allowed slavery anymore.  I explained that these people are owned, they are property, they have no life, they have no choice, they are nothing.  They are treated horribly, they are punished, they are hurt physically, mentally, and endure things that we could probably never truly imagine.  They are still young and we didn't get into the even harsher realities of what most human trafficking consists of, but it was the beginning of a conversation that we will continue to have.  Because, like it or not, the trafficking is everywhere.  It is in front of your eyes, and you probably walked by someone in at least the last week that is imprisoned to this.  

Olivia wanted to share her thoughts she has had today after talking about trafficking this morning.

 

Costa Rica has become one of the highest trafficked areas in the world for this, and while the government here is being forced by the United Nations to crack down and do something about it, it is still happening.  I blogged more about this a few months ago, and you can find it here.  

I haven't had the time to research the origination of the for the End It Movement.  But, for me, it signifies that the only way to stop this incomprehensible evilness in this world is with the words of Jesus, the ones that share of his love, his sacrifice, and the blood that was spilled for all of us sinners in the world.  One person at a time.  That is all we can do.  One person at a time.  One relationship at a time.  And sharing the One true KING.  I believe all those Red Letter Words are the best and only tool needed to Free the Slaves.

If we aren't using those Red Letter Words then it will be impossible to End IT.  

Jesus's very words were, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." ~ Mark 15:15

Friday, February 14, 2014

Recap of 2013 by David

Since I am a bit technologically challenged, I didn't know how to export David's newsletter into the blog without making it a PDF and then changing it to a JPEG, so sorry for the small font.  I was able to zoom my screen in and see it fine.  You can simply do that, or you can also click on the image and then zoom in on the font.